


i know you've been needing time to set aside

by seeingrightly



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-18 01:27:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16107920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seeingrightly/pseuds/seeingrightly
Summary: It’s weird to be in the car alone. Ronan’s used to, at the very least, having Chainsaw with him, and usually Opal too. But he can’t bring either of them with him to visit Adam at college unannounced because they require too much planning. Adam doesn’t care as much about normalcy or the appearance of it as he used to, but certain elements of their lives push past weird and into unsettling, and Adam likes to handle them with care.So Ronan’s bored, on the long drive up to Boston, because no one else is in the car with him. That’s all it is.





	i know you've been needing time to set aside

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Wisteria_Leigh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wisteria_Leigh/gifts).



> this is for [sarah](https://www.purrincesscattitude.tumblr.com), who requested ronan surprising adam at college
> 
> title from "longshot (7 nights)" by miike snow

 

 

It’s weird to be in the car alone. Ronan’s used to, at the very least, having Chainsaw with him, and usually Opal too. But he can’t bring either of them with him to visit Adam at college unannounced because they require too much planning. Adam doesn’t care as much about normalcy or the appearance of it as he used to, but certain elements of their lives push past weird and into unsettling, and Adam likes to handle them with care.

So Ronan’s bored, on the long drive up to Boston, because no one else is in the car with him. That’s all it is. 

When his phone rings, he jumps and curses. It’s Adam.

“Hey,” Adam says, and when Roran greets him in return, he asks, “Are you in the car?”

“Yeah,” Ronan replies. “What’s up?”

“I just finished my midterm early and I have time before work,” Adam says. “We haven’t gotten to talk a lot lately, so…”

“That was your last one, right?” Ronan asks, even though he knows the answer. “How’d you do?”

“Yeah, I think I did well. A couple of questions threw me off, but not enough to worry about my grade.”

“Good,” Ronan says. “You got any big homework assignments over the weekend?”

“Mostly reading,” Adam says. “I might pick up a few extra shifts while I have the time.”

“You should  _ rest _ and  _ relax _ while you have the time,” Ronan says, and he means it, but he’s also panicking a little. “I’m serious, Parrish.”

“I know you are,” Adam sighs. “I won’t do it yet, okay? I’ll think about it. See if getting one good night’s sleep convinces me to aim for more. How about that?”

“Good,” Ronan says mulishly.

He keeps Adam on the phone for a little while longer, and distracts him from asking where Ronan is driving. It makes the drive better, though he does feel a little guilty that Adam doesn’t know, doesn’t get to be excited the way Ronan does. Adam has to hang up to go to work eventually, but the rest of the drive is more bearable after that.

Adam’s work study job this year is at the university library. He finds it boring, sometimes, but it’s much less physically grueling than the type of work that would make him feel more accomplished, and he can often get homework done while at work, so he doesn’t complain too much. Ronan knows for a fact he’s not supposed to park in the library parking lot, but he does it anyway. Adam’s shift ends soon, and Ronan’s starving. He’ll be gone soon.

He is a little bit early, though, and after he turns off the car, he wipes his palms on his thighs. Adam’s been with him for a while now, and Ronan doesn’t doubt the shit that Adam says to him about their relationship and his feelings. But Ronan’s feelings for Adam are desperate and all-consuming, and Adam always has so many other things going on in his life, so many things that he also cares about, and it’s easy for Ronan to feel like he’s made a mistake by coming here as a surprise.

He came up with a whole plan, to walk into the library and up to the front desk while Adam wasn’t looking, to lean there and ask if Adam could help him with something. He wanted to see the look of shock and pleasure on Adam’s face. But someone raps on Ronan’s window, and when he looks up, it’s Adam, frowning down at him.

Ronan unbuckles his seatbelt and then edges the door open slowly so that Adam can get out of his way.

“Uh, hey,” Ronan says. “Surprise.”

“Why are you sitting out here like you’re plotting to kidnap me?” Adam asks, but he leans in to peck Ronan on the lips like he’s just come in the front door, and then, catching himself, steps into Ronan and wraps his arms around his neck.

Ronan pulls Adam in closer and presses his face against the side of Adam’s head.

“I had a whole thing planned,” he says, muffled. “You spoiled it.”

“Sorry,” Adam replies, though he doesn’t sound it. “Were you going to come in and ask if you could check me out?”

“No,” Ronan lies, and Adam laughs, shaking against him. “Let’s go eat.”

The restaurant Adam picks is difficult to find parking for, and it’d be more of a takeout place if it wasn’t in the middle of a college campus, but it’s packed, and they wind up sitting right next to a pair of girls, their tables pressed together. The food is a little more expensive than Adam would buy for himself unless he was planning to save half of it as a second meal. He knows Ronan’s going to pay, and he’s going to let him. It’s a little victory in terms of Adam’s personal progress, and a grand gesture in terms of his trusting Ronan.

The food is good, too, and Adam presses their knees together under the cramped table, and he asks for updates about everyone at home, like he doesn’t already know all the answers. He’s acting the same as he would if he’d expected Ronan to show up, which makes all of Ronan’s nerves ebb away.

“What do you want to do now?” Adam asks once they finish, heading out onto the sidewalk with their hands linked.

Ronan knows he tends to be restless and reckless, that his role is to pull Adam out of his comfort zone and habits. But he showed up unannounced on Adam’s one relatively calm weekend of the semester with one express purpose.

“We’re gonna  _ relax _ ,” he says, hauling Adam toward the car.

Adam doesn’t seem to believe him until they get to his building’s parking lot, and even then he’s still suspicious, but Ronan grabs his duffel bag and, once they’re inside, he takes off his boots and plops down on the couch.

“Come on,” he says, and Adam toes off his shoes and joins him, sliding under his arm. “We can watch that show Gansey’s been annoying us about.”

Adam settles in against Ronan’s side, but he knows that doesn’t mean he’s won. Adam is his own kind of restless, after all, and even as he tries to relax with Ronan, he still fidgets, and his eyes drift to the pile of textbooks on the coffee table, and he pauses the show constantly to talk about it, or to ask Ronan questions about entirely unrelated topics. Ronan answers his questions and takes back the remote to press play and kisses his ear or runs a hand down his arm when he looks distracted. Ronan’s playing the long game here.

It takes a good few episodes before he starts to see results, and eventually, Adam is sound asleep against him. Adam is able to fall asleep immediately whenever he has nothing to do; the trick, in situations like this, is to convince him that there’s nothing he should be doing when there’s something he  _ could _ be doing.

Ronan takes the remote out of Adam’s hand for what feels like the hundredth time and switches the television to something he actually wants to watch. His arm falls asleep, and after a while he has to piss pretty badly, but he’s determined not to move.

A good two hours pass this way before Adam’s roommate comes home and startles him awake. He’s a deep sleeper, but she’s clumsier than anyone Ronan’s met, and she trips on one of his boots a few feet into the apartment, dropping her backpack on the floor with a loud thump. Adam flinches, and Ronan pulls his hands back, knowing that grabbing him will make him panic more, if he’s panicking at all.

“Ugh,” Adam says eventually, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Sorry, sorry,” Danny says, holding up her hands in surrender.

“Not your fault,” Adam says muzzily. “Ronan’s, probably.”

“Hey,” Ronan says without much heat, and Danny laughs.

She picks up her backpack and kicks Ronan’s boots to the side of the entryway unceremoniously before she heads into her bedroom. Ronan doesn’t mind her.

“How long was I out for?” Adam asks, rubbing at his eyes.

“Not too long,” Ronan says, and Adam shoots him a suspicious look. “What?”

“Did you drive all the way up here to make sure I sleep enough on my days off?” he asks. “That’s not gonna be very fun for you. Probably not worth the drive.”

“I knew you wouldn’t relax enough to catch up on sleep without me here,” Ronan says before he can stop himself.

Adam huffs out a laugh and leans in to kiss Ronan. His breath is gross from his nap.

“I think that’s embarrassing for both of us that we cancel each other out,” Adam says. “You’re really just planning to watch me sleep all weekend, you creep?”

His voice is fond and his hair is mussed horribly and Ronan can think of plenty of things he’d like to do over the weekend, but he’s got a reputation to pretend to uphold.

“It’s not my fault you need me to rock you to sleep like a baby, Parrish,” he says, and Adam laughs and kisses him again, and Ronan forgets about Adam’s bad breath and his own need to piss and just about everything else.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at [ch3ry1b10ss0m](https://www.ch3ry1b10ss0m.tumblr.com)


End file.
